New Perrando Museum Hub
At the Church of the Conception, elevated to a Basilica in 1622, formerly known as the Church of the Visitation or also St. Mary in the Square, the Reformed Minor Friars of St. Francis settled in 1617, supported by the government of the Republic of Genoa, responding to the needs of the Sassello community which, decimated by numerous epidemics, felt the need for better spiritual assistance. In 1624, the Friars began and quickly completed the construction of the Convent adjacent to the church, which has been completely remodeled today. Both the Church of the Conception and the Convent suffered fires set by the Savoyards in 1626 and 1672. In 1871, work was carried out to transfer the boys' schools into the Convent, in premises not clearly identified. During the twentieth century, the Convent housed the caretakers' lodgings, elementary and middle schools; a trouser factory was established there, possibly by nuns, and a Draft Board office was also located there. Since 2014, it has become the seat of the New Perrando Museum Hub. Inside, located on the first floor, are the Napoleonic section, the Bianchi Collection of contemporary art, and, since June 2024, the Museum of Dialect.
THE NAPOLEONIC ROOM dedicated to the population of Sassello.
In the year 1800, in a situation of great confusion, the two armies faced each other: the Austrians commanded by Melas and the French by Massena, who had occupied Genoa. Some skirmishes took place in the territory of Sassello on Monte Ermetta and at Costa dello Zovetto. Here, on April 15, a bloody clash occurred between the two factions. Sassello was evacuated by the fleeing French and occupied by the Austrians; among the officers was Captain Radetzky, who addressed two proclamations to the Municipality of Sassello. The events of the year 1800—epidemic, famine, killings—caused the death of 345 people, divided among the two parishes of Sassello, Piampaludo, and Palo, almost a tenth of the population, as attested by the “Book of the Dead” kept in the archive of the Parish of the Holy Trinity. In the large display cases, the reconstruction of the uniforms of the two different factions and the artifacts recovered from the battle zones are exhibited.
The Ing. Giuliano Bianchi Collection
(1944-1991)
It was donated to the Municipality of Sassello by the mother upon the death of her son Giuliano Bianchi, a collector and artist himself. This is a collection of considerable importance, which includes, among others, works by Mirò, Scanavino, Schifano, Becon, Boetti. Initially housed in the rooms on the top floor of the Town Hall, it has found in this location the visibility it deserves and a placement worthy of the importance of the works on display.
Dialect Museum
The Dialect Museum was inaugurated on June 8, 2024, at the new Perrando Museum Center.
The Amici del Sassello APS association took on the task of guiding the creation of this museum towards a vision that goes beyond the more traditional Dialect Museum, which is strictly linked to the ethnographic museum. Thus, the idea was to create a museum that would help visitors understand the origins of the Sassello dialect through documents from the Sassello Municipal Archive, preserved in the Perrando Palace, testimonies from Sassello residents who still speak the dialect, and comparisons with the various dialects of the hamlets. Those who, over the years, have handed down, preserved, and ensured that this Ligurian dialect with Piedmontese and French influences has reached us are also remembered.